Alloa Athletic v Forfar Athletic

[English Wasp]

I thought we improved a lot after we switched to a 4-4-2. The 4-1-4-1 or whatever bizarre formation Goodwin seems to be persisting with isn't working.
As Waspie says above Kris Renton needs someone next to him to be effective, and the same could be said for any of the strikers we have.

[dee_62]

Like the Raith game, thought we'd done enough to sneak at least a point. Battled well throughout the team to get our noses in front. But almost as soon as we got in front, Alloa became more and more threatening.

We defended deeper and deeper, as the game moved into the last 15 mins, with Megatt in particular, throwing cross after cross into the box.

With more Alloa bodies getting thrown forward in their desperation to get something out of the game, it was only a matter of time before we cracked.

Not going to fault the players for effort and individual errors will no doubt be highlighted but, for me, changes should have been made to shore up the centre of defence when Alloa had the pressure. Travis on for Josh at the same time as Lister came on for See may have worked better. Failing that, fresh legs in midfield should have been considered. We were just going further and further back towards our goal too easily.

Well done to the Wasps for not stopping at the equaliser. Last 10 mins plus stoppage were in complete contrast to the fairly poor first 80 but 3pts are 3pts.

At least it was warmer than the last time!

 

 

ETA - actually, we could also have used a fresh defensive central midfielder late in the game. Noticed we were a man light on the team sheet and no Eddie Malone anywhere to be seen!

 

[broon-loon]

12 minutes ago, dee_62 said:

Like the Raith game, thought we'd done enough to sneak at least a point. Battled well throughout the team to get our noses in front. But almost as soon as we got in front, Alloa became more and more threatening.
We defended deeper and deeper, as the game moved into the last 15 mins, with Megatt in particular, throwing cross after cross into the box.
With more Alloa bodies getting thrown forward in their desperation to get something out of the game, it was only a matter of time before we cracked.
Not going to fault the players for effort and individual errors will no doubt be highlighted but, for me, changes should have been made to shore up the centre of defence when Alloa had the pressure. Travis on for Josh at the same time as Lister came on for See may have worked better. Failing that, fresh legs in midfield should have been considered. We were just going further and further back towards our goal too easily.
Well done to the Wasps for not stopping at the equaliser. Last 10 mins plus stoppage were in complete contrast to the fairly poor first 80 but 3pts are 3pts.
At least it was warmer than the last time!

Pretty much my thoughts.

Giving away possession and cheap fouls in the latter stages put us under unnecessary pressure and sadly cost us a draw (which was probably a fair result)...

Not convinced it's a £16 quid each venue though...?

 

[dee_62]

Giving away possession and cheap fouls in the latter stages put us under unnecessary pressure and sadly cost us a draw (which was probably a fair result)...
 

Absolutely this.

[BFTD]

Delighted to see we managed to pull through this one - the half-time BBC statistics made for grim reading.

Did some coward really take a pop at David Cox attempting suicide? Fucking hell.

[BigMartyn86]

Played shite and got three points. Hopefully we can kick on from here. I thought the players didn't look confident today but with some of the shouts it would get to anyone in the end.

This isn't a great Alloa team and it feels like we are in for a Maitland type of season where we go between runs of good results and run of poor results.

Some of the shouts about Cox were in poor taste. The kind of shite you would expect from a old firm fan.

[forfarfred]

8 hours ago, BigMartyn86 said:

Played shite and got three points. Hopefully we can kick on from here. I thought the players didn't look confident today but with some of the shouts it would get to anyone in the end.

This isn't a great Alloa team and it feels like we are in for a Maitland type of season where we go between runs of good results and run of poor results.

Some of the shouts about Cox were in poor taste. The kind of shite you would expect from a old firm fan.

True but some of the Forfar fans are complete idiots

 

[Father Barrys Sign (Top Half)]

The highlight of the game was Goodwin and Lister's wee clash not long after the equaliser. Two big hosses having a pop at one another- great entertainment.

[KierenAAFC]

Missed another game yesterday through work. Brutal!

However, delighted with a much needed win. Anything but a win at home to Forfar & I would have been disappointed, no offence. Delighted for Big Renton who has taken a fair amount of stick, warranted some of the time however. A wee boost like that can change a teams mentality so let's hope it does in this case.

We seem to be back again with the same point "Good subs from Jim, changed the game" & again it seems to be the likes of Martin. How about instead of making them good subs, stick them on from the start! Martin must be getting really frustrated seeing Cook start ahead of him.

Also, out of interest, how did Goodwin play? Considering he has been out a long time.

[printer]

I understand the view that the subs, primarily young Martin who has been excellent coming off the bench several times now, should be given the chance from the start. But just because you do well off the bench doesn't mean you would be effective starting. The way a match is being played late on when a team is chasing an equaliser or indeed winner when at home is different to the early stages of that game.

I do agree with the view that Renton (who I think can still turn out to be a good signing) needs more support, but for me that is probably Kevin Cawley (who looks back to his best so far this season, a genuine goal threat on top of the other intelligent hard work you always get from him) and Cook getting closer to him, not necessarily playing two up front.

I wonder if Goodwin will be tempted to keep himself in the team in midfield when Graham is fit. We could be doing with a leader in there and maybe he has his head round the dual roles better now.

[KierenAAFC]

Only one way to find out if Martin is capable is to go for it & start him. He has earned the chance and should be given it.

I'd love to see Goodwin back in our team but just don't see it. He's a player we'd benefit a lot from but with him being manager I just don't think it'll happen regularly & for dual roles, the probably the best.

[Waspie]

4 hours ago, printer said:

I understand the view that the subs, primarily young Martin who has been excellent coming off the bench several times now, should be given the chance from the start. But just because you do well off the bench doesn't mean you would be effective starting. The way a match is being played late on when a team is chasing an equaliser or indeed winner when at home is different to the early stages of that game.

I do agree with the view that Renton (who I think can still turn out to be a good signing) needs more support, but for me that is probably Kevin Cawley (who looks back to his best so far this season, a genuine goal threat on top of the other intelligent hard work you always get from him) and Cook getting closer to him, not necessarily playing two up front.

I wonder if Goodwin will be tempted to keep himself in the team in midfield when Graham is fit. We could be doing with a leader in there and maybe he has his head round the dual roles better now.

That's a fair point and Martin is certainly well suited at the moment to coming on and running at tiring defenders. I do think though that he should be given a few starts now. He has been doing well off the bench for a while and as such I think it's fair to give him a shot from the start. More importantly he is full of confidence. Cook is not. Might not do him any harm to try the super sub role and try and get going again from there. 

The late comeback was entertaining but we were very close to losing at home to a pretty limited side. I believe we were a little fortunate against QP too and had they taken a good chance shortly before we scored then it would probably have been an away rather than home win. Looking through our team yesterday there are plenty of players who are among the best there is in Scottish part-time football in their positions. We aren't getting the best out of them at the moment. 

I'd be happy enough if Jim turned out in midfield. He looked like he had never been away yesterday, did the defensive stuff well and drove the team on too. Indeed, some might say that he is more suited to playing than managing .

[BFTD]

f**k, I missed the auld yin making an appearance on the pitch as well?  

He might struggle to maintain managerial discipline if he started playing regularly again. Just doesn't seem to be able to avoid administering the occasional pointless battering, which can be entertaining, but not so much when you drop points as a result.

[falkirkwasp]

I understand the view that the subs, primarily young Martin who has been excellent coming off the bench several times now, should be given the chance from the start. But just because you do well off the bench doesn't mean you would be effective starting. The way a match is being played late on when a team is chasing an equaliser or indeed winner when at home is different to the early stages of that game.

Have to agree with all of that, wont be good for confidence if he comes on from the start doesnt have the right impact, so jim is right to a certain extent.

[printer]

More importantly he is full of confidence. Cook is not. Might not do him any harm to try the super sub role and try and get going again from there. 

Fair points. Confidence is vital, especially for attacking players.

Of course we could easily start both of them - one of the criticisms I would have of the team so far (and I've only seen three games) is that the attacking formation seems a bit rigid. Cook seems to me a player who would be thrive if given a licence to roam across the pitch, I think he's got the potential to do a similar role to that which Jordan Kirkpatrick did last year.

[KierenAAFC]

Any highlights for this one coming up, Leodhas?

[Father Barrys Sign (Top Half)]

On 10/09/2017 at 18:15, printer said:

 

Fair points. Confidence is vital, especially for attacking players.

Of course we could easily start both of them - one of the criticisms I would have of the team so far (and I've only seen three games) is that the attacking formation seems a bit rigid. Cook seems to me a player who would be thrive if given a licence to roam across the pitch, I think he's got the potential to do a similar role to that which Jordan Kirkpatrick did last year.

 

Yep, attack is too rigid and predictable at the moment, whereas the midfield is the opposite at times (where it actually needs more structure) Reverse that, and I think we will get better.

[LeodhasXD]

35 minutes ago, KierenAAFC said:

Any highlights for this one coming up, Leodhas?

Aye I've been away for a wedding and have a puppy so I'm exhausted. I'm doing the Dundee Utd game just now. That ll be tomorrow. Forfar game will be saturday at the latest.

Wedding was in Southampton and I was with the Watford team at the Hilton (Ageas Bowl or whatever the cricket ground is). Didn't want to bother them though

[BFTD]

12 hours ago, LeodhasXD said:

Aye I've been away for a wedding and have a puppy so I'm exhausted.

No wonder. Looking forward to reading about it all in the Sunday Sport  

[nofixedability]

On 9 September 2017 at 20:39, printer said:

 

I'm glad I missed the game today to miss his shout at Cox. I can imagine what it was. He's a disgusting individual who only seems goes to games to act the big man.

 

Apparently this shout has been reported to your chairman who is trying to identify culprit. Hopefully they find him.